Peppers!...August 27, 2009

The orange and red bells (upper right), corno di toros, jalapenos are coming in by leaps and bounds and the Rounds of Hungary (on the left above) are finally turning red - going to can those for homemade pimento cheese this winter. The others have been frozen, roasted or used in pickles. The Corno di Toros are fabulous roasted, filled with fresh mozarella, and served with pasta. My fish pepper plant, started in July, is setting buds - hoping to get at least a few before frost and since I put it in a SWC I should be able to move it to keep it warm. Looking forward to trying those hot ones!

Pickles...Aug. 15, 2009

Hot and spicy bread and butter pickles... yummy and all organic :-)

These have our cucumbers, onions and peppers. Unfortunately, we are going through them as fast as I can them. Our youngest son loves them and I am mailing a jar of pickles and a jar of chow chow (a southern necessity for pintos) to Colorado for our older son.

Next year will be tripling the number of cukes I plant.

Summer winding down...August 14, 2009

Summer is winding down but the gardening isn't! Not a great year for tomatoes, here or anywhere else it seems, but we have a few dozen in the freezer despite the early blight and TYLCV and the Cherokee Purple is finally getting ready to start giving us great eating! I noticed the two biggest tomatoes on it are finally blushing from the bottom up - can't wait to slice those babies on some white bread with Duke's mayo!

Started 144 cells of fall veggies today - two types of broccoli, three types of collards, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens, Pak choi, leeks and something just for fun - Micro Tom tomatoes. They are touted as the smallest tomato plants, will grow and produce in a 4 inch pot. The tomatoes are supposed to be the size of croutons - thought it would be fun to have some over the winter.

Going to try making squash pickles tomorrow... the cukes have played out, and I am not sure two cases of bread and butter pickles will get us through the winter, so will try some of these for winter meals.

Corno di Toro peppers are to die for - we picked the first three red ones, roasted them on the gas range, peeled and stuffed with fresh mozzarella then baked... with pasta in fresh tomato sauce it was a perfect meal. The Ancho peppers are starting to turn - had them stuffed with Monterey Jack - hot but delicious!

Squash, squash everywhere....July 27

The yellow crookneck and straight squashes are still producing as are the dark green and Fordhook zucchinis.... this is why you should check your zucchini plants every day! The zucchini was shredded and frozen for winter bread, the dog was given a treat to make up for his humiliation at being compared to a vegetable :-)......

But the garden is producing and we are eating fresh vegetables every day - is there anything better than a fresh heirloom tomato on soft bread with Duke's mayo? Or eggplant parmesan with fresh marinara sauce?

Eggplants Galore!...July 17, 2009

Which is a good thing around my house because we love eggplant parmesan with homemade chunky marinara sauce. I use both the heirloom Black Beauty eggplants and the tiny but delicious Fairy Tale eggplants in them. As long as the black beauties are picked young they are not bitter - no need to sweat in salt first.

Summer dinners...July 7, 2009

are the best... this week we have had zucchini & tomato casserole and last night Eggplant Parmesan. Wonderful! Used 2 Black Beauties from the garden, sliced thin, dipped in beaten egg and homemade Italian bread crumbs, baked for 8 minutes on each side on a greased baking sheet at 400. Layered in a casserole dish with homemade tomato sauce (homegrown tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, spices, simmered for four hours), parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Sliced fresh mozzarella on top, baked at 375 for 30 minutes and served with cold cucumber salad (from our garden of course - cucumber & onion slices with a tsp. of sugar and covered in balsamic vinegar - chill for several hours) and homemade sourdough rolls. YUM!

Newstead Philosophy of the Day...July 1, 2009

No pics for today - it is too peaceful out on the deck to even think about moving. There is a young squirrel gorging on sunflower seeds from one of the bird feeders, crows yelling in the next yard, sun on the ripening tomatoes and dogs sleeping in the shade. I don't know that it gets much better than this - forget the TYLCV on some of the tomatoes and the blight? on the bush beans... sitting out here with the fountain gurgling, birds singing in the trees and all quiet elsewhere is panacea to the soul.I dream of my perfect small country home on many acres with orchards, free range chickens, a large paddock for the dogs with a pond - but sometimes we have to just revel in the moment and enjoy what we have today.